Oxford United Help Needed

C

Col The Ox

A. Trialist
Hi all,

First of all I'm an Oxford United fan that spent 8 happy years living in Wilford, until last year, and went to a number of games at the City Ground, where I found Forest fans to be what I'd describe as "proper" football fans. Congratulations on getting to, and staying in, the holy grail that is the Premier League

My club, are desperately trying to secure a new stadium site, or we’ll be homeless from 2026. How we got to this stage is a long story but in short we're being screwed over by our ex-owner and current stadium landlord, Firoz Kassam. Hopefully, as a club that have had your own issues with the planners over the new Peter Taylor Stand, you'll be sympathetic, and able to help.

When he was the owner of the club and stadium in 2001 he agreed a 25 year licence agreement between OUFC and his stadium company, Firoka. This expires on 30th June 2026 and he is unwilling to extend this or sell to OUFC (3 different subsequent owners have tried) as he stands to make much more from redeveloping the entire Kassam Stadium complex (a process he started two weeks ago: Kassam Stadium owner looks to demolish nearby bingo hall for science facility)
As such, OUFC have no choice to move. A small 11 acre, triangular plot on the edge of the city has been identified as the only suitable land available. It's a logistically perfect location right across the road from Oxford Parkway station and next to the A34. Amenities are within minutes in nearby Kidlington.

The Triangle, as this plot is known, is owned by Oxfordshire County Council and OUFC approached OCC in 2021 about leasing or buying land for a stadium. They have committed to reaching a decision on The Triangle on 19th September and their decision will be influenced by the results of a public survey they are conducting.

With that in mind, if anyone on here would be happy to fill in a short online questionnaire being run by Oxfordshire County Council, our fans would be extremely grateful.

It only takes about five minutes or so to fill in the short online form with positive answers at https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/C8O8VI/ by 23 July 2023.

Additional details can be found here: How do Oxford United’s proposals for the land known as ‘the Triangle’ impact the communities of Oxfordshire?

And here: FAQs – Oxford United Stadium

The benefits to you as away fans will be:
  • A sustainable stadium right next door to a major railway station in Oxford Parkway (5 mins from Oxford City Centre, 8 mins from Bicester Village and an hour or so from Marylebone) and opposite a large Park&Ride site with thousands of parking spaces, which would make it one of the easiest, greenest grounds to get to in the UK.
  • Proper drinking, food and entertainment options at the ground itself, compared to embarrassing facilities currently on offer at our current ground or nearby.
  • A modern, well-designed ground which will help to support a proper atmosphere, rather than the soulless, three-side ground we have now.
A few sentences on any of the above for the survey’s final comment box would be really helpful in showing our County Council that the new ground will be sustainable, increase spending in Oxfordshire, and provide excellent facilities for home AND away fans.

We all appreciate the value of a good away day and hopefully we'll get you in a cup game from 2026 onwards. Taking a few minutes to support a fellow club before it becomes homeless in just a few years would be massively appreciated.
We need to show support to get the council to agree to leasing or selling OUFC the land in September to allow an planning application to be made in October/November so construction can start in June 2024.

Thanks in anticipation of your help, and good luck next season.
 
valspoodle

valspoodle

Steve Chettle
Filled in. When I did my tour of the grounds I was accompanied by the Commercial Manager of OUFC at the time who had harsh words to say about Kassam and the restrictions he placed on the club. Such petty actions as restricting the colour the ground could be painted, which included not using yellow! Although they got around that to an extent by painting the warning strips on the stairways yellow.

The whole ethos of the club I found to be friendly and welcoming from those I met, so I'm happy to fill in the questionnaire.
 
M

MaxiRobriguez

Bob McKinlay
Sounds like Oxford in a similar sort of boat to Forest a decade ago. Two playoff campaigns, then ownership switch, then just outside playoffs, then battling relegation and off the field antics at the same time.

I'll fill in your questionnaire after I get my lad to bed. Have enjoyed playing as Oxford on FM before.
 
C

Col The Ox

A. Trialist
Thanks to those of you that have filled the survey in so far, I knew Forest fans wouldn't let us down.

As stated above, we have indeed had some good battles over the years, but nothing recently unfortunately.

The other half of the Kassam story is that when he bought us we were in the top half of what's now known as The Championship, and within 8 years he'd taken us down to The Conference, the first club ever to go from the top division, win a national cup at Wembley, and end up in non-league.

Our "model" is indeed a Brighton or Brentford model and we've got very good contacts with both clubs, and a similar player trading model. We have a state of the art training facility that houses our first team, women's team, and academy which is fundamental to this. We often buy 20/21 year olds who haven't quite made it at their Premier or Championship clubs, give them a shop window and sell on some for a profit. It doesn't always work out, and one that is currently in the balance is Marcus McGuane, who we bought from you a couple of seasons ago. When he first arrived he looked superb, you could see his Arsenal and Barcelona upbringing. He then had a couple of niggly injuries which stalled his first full season, but last season he was a regular and often man of the match. If he pushes on I would expect offers to come in and I do believe you have quite a hefty sell on clause, so we may be paying back your kindness with hard cash too.

Thanks again, it's really appreciated.
 
Strummer

Strummer

Socialismo O Muerte!
LTLF Minion
Good luck to Oxford; what with being f**ked around by Maxwell and then their previous absolute f***ing trumpet of an owner, they need a bit of a break.

The city is big enough to warrant a decent football club with proper facilities.
 
Eddie Yates

Eddie Yates

Steve Chettle
Oxford fans shouldn't have turned their noses up at amalgamating with Reading & becoming the Thames Valley Royals as Captain Bob planned
 
Captain Sinister

Captain Sinister

Senior doom Monger
Thanks for letting us have Jim Barron - a fine goalie.
Survey completed.
One miner gripe (it's my nature to gripe about something), in the survey you are required to give your E mail address at the start, and then in response to the final question about being updated on progress, if you select any of the "yes please" options, it asks again for your E mail address.
Why?
 
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C

Col The Ox

A. Trialist
Captain Sinister said:
Thanks for letting us have Jim Barron - a fine goalie.
Survey completed.
One miner gripe (it's my nature to gripe about something), in the survey you are required to give your E mail address at the start, and then in response to the final question about being updated on progress, if you select any of the "yes please" options, it asks again for your E mail address.
Why?
Click to expand...
I don't know the answer to that, but it's Oxfordshire County Council who produced the survey, not the club. I can only guess that it's in case someone wants further details sent to s different email address? But that's all it is, a guess.

Anyway, thanks for filling out the survey, much appreciated.

Oh, and yes Jim Barron was a great goalkeeper, and was our keeper when I first started watching the club.
 
Le Juif Rouge

Le Juif Rouge

Senior Mass Debater
Done. 👍
 
C

Col The Ox

A. Trialist
Thanks to those of you that have filled out the survey, it's greatly appreciated, and I knew I could rely on Forest fans to be supportive. If there are any others that would like to do it, there are only six days until the survey closes.

I remember the game the two posters above mention, and yes you did beat us 2-1, but it wasn't the last game of the season for us. We played Arsenal two days later, and won 3-0 to stay up in the old Division One, only two weeks after winning the League Cup at Wembley, also 3-0. Happy days!
 
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